


Balance

by SiriuslyEmily



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, pre-back cover team bonding, the foretellers used to be a good team before everything went very wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26305684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiriuslyEmily/pseuds/SiriuslyEmily
Summary: Before the disappearance of their Master, before the Keyblade War, the Foretellers had much smaller problems to worry about. Like figuring out how to fix a broken training quintain before their Master finds out.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	Balance

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for the Front Cover KHx zine! I adore the Foretellers, so I was very happy to get a chance to write them. Let me know what y'all think :)

Metallic clangs echoed through the mid-morning air as three of the Master of Masters’s six students put in one final training session before lunchtime. Ava swung her keyblade at one of the four metal rings whirling back and forth on the branches of the training quintain, sending it spinning back towards Gula, who dodged rather than take a swing. 

“Gula,” scolded Aced, who whacked the ring that Gula had dodged with his own keyblade, “you’re supposed to hit it, not back away!”

“The point is to avoid getting hit,” Gula replied. “Dodging is just as valid a strategy as attacking.”

“But you’ve dodged  _ all  _ of them,” Ava said. She spun out of the way of one ring and just managed to hit another, sending it back to Gula. “Try that one!”

Gula tilted his head, then tensed, but rather than swinging his keyblade he sprang up and landed lightly on the arm of one of the swinging crosspieces. Ava laughed, and a smile flashed across his face before he pushed off, flipping away from the quintain. The crosspiece whirled around, the ring spinning wildly toward Aced.

“Hey!” Aced quickly swung his keyblade, but much harder than before; with a reverberating crash his keyblade struck the ring, and the arm of the crosspiece holding it snapped out of the post and landed with a heavy thunk on the floor of the training ground.

“Oh no!” Ava dismissed her keyblade and ran over to the ring laying lopsided beside the quintain. Gula hurriedly dismissed his too, startled.

Aced was still holding his own keyblade in the air, mouth hanging open.“That--that was  _ not _ my fault!” 

“Really?” Gula sounded calm, but his hands fidgeted beneath his sleeves. “You’re the one who hit it.”

“After you jumped on it!”

“It only broke after  _ your  _ swing, Aced.”

“Stop bickering and help me fix it before the Master comes back!” Ava heaved the ring upright, but as she did, the post of the quintain began to tilt. “Oh no--Aced, don’t let it fall!”

“Right!” Aced hurried over and braced himself against the post; the rings swung precariously, but the post stayed upright. Gula lifted the arm of the crosspiece with some effort, then looked at Ava.

“Now what?”

“Well, we need to reattach it, or the whole thing will fall over. But neither of us are tall enough,” Ava said, frowning, “and it’s too heavy for you to climb to the top with it…”

“I don’t see why we can’t just leave it the way it is. Aced’s doing a fine job holding it up.”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Aced was still holding the pillar tightly, his shoulder shoved up against it to bear the weight. “I can’t stay like this forever, Gula.”

“Why not? It broke because you hit the ring too hard.”

“Gula,” Ava said, “this isn’t helping.”

“Helping what?” They looked over to see Invi approaching from the entrance of the training ground, though she stopped short at the sight of them. “Oh dear.”

“Invi! Perfect timing!” Ava said. “Can you lend us a hand?”

“What happened?”

“Well, the ring snapped off while we were training—“

“Because Aced hit it too hard—“

“After Gula  _ jumped  _ on it—“

“So now we’re trying to fix it but it’s really heavy and the pillar keeps leaning,” Ava finished quickly.

Invi looked at all of them, and then up at the broken quintain. “Hmm. Gula, put that down and stand back. You too, Ava.”

Gula placed the metal arm back on the ground, and he and Ava backed away. Invi summoned her keyblade, pointing it at the arm. 

“Drift!”

With a whoosh, the arm lifted up into the air, the ring hanging below it. Gula hummed approvingly, and both Ava and Aced made noises of relief as it floated upward. Carefully, Invi tilted her keyblade, and the arm drifted over to its slot, but the edge of the arm hit the rim of the slot with a clang, and it rebounded, toppling back to the ground. 

“Almost…” Ava clasped her hands together, thinking hard. “Invi, can we try that again, but this time one of us climbs up and tries to pull the piece back into place?”

“Good idea,” Invi said. She cast the gravity spell again, and Gula helped push Ava to the top of the quintain. Ava reached out, grabbing for the arm, but as she leaned forward the other crosspieces that were still attached started to rotate. Ava yelped and pulled her hand back, hugging the top of the post as Aced grunted from the effort of keeping it in place. 

Invi let the arm and ring drop back to the ground with a sigh. “Ava, come down from there, it’s too precarious.”

“We were so close!” Ava slid back down the pillar to the ground, trying to avoid jostling Aced and not quite managing it. “Sorry, Aced.”

“I could try casting the spell,” Gula mused, “but I’m not sure I can hold it as long as you, Invi.”

Aced shifted his grip on the pillar; beneath his mask his face was reddened with effort. “We need to think of something before the Master finds out we broke this,” he said, his voice strained. “And I am NOT going to hold this up permanently.”

“Unfortunately, that may be our only option, Aced.” Invi’s tone was grim, but though her mouth was covered as always, there was a hint of a smile on her cheeks. 

“Invi!” Aced groaned. “Not you too! This isn’t funny!”

“What’s going on in here?”

The four looked over, startled, to see two more figures in the entryway: Ira and Luxu. Ira frowned as he took in the scene, and Luxu let out a low whistle.

“Wow,” he said, “what did you guys  _ do _ ?”

“Nothing!” Aced and Gula said at once.

“We’re trying to fix it!” Ava said. 

“It broke while they were training, and we aren’t sure how to repair it properly.” Invi gestured to the arm and ring still on the ground. “It’s too high up to lift it back into place, and climbing to the top of the post makes it tilt.”

“The rings are too heavy, it’s overbalanced,” Aced puffed. “Ira, come take my place!”

“Gula could sit on Ava’s shoulders,” Luxu suggested. “They’d be tall enough then. Probably.”

“How about he sits on  _ your _ shoulders, Luxu?” Ira said with a smile. “You’re taller than Ava.” 

“Uh, no thanks. I’m good on the ground.”

“Don’t volunteer people for jobs you won’t do yourself!” Aced chided.

“Oh, like you just volunteered Ira?”

“I’ve been holding this up for ten minutes!”

“Here, Aced. Take a break.” Ira moved to Aced’s side and braced his shoulder against the post. Aced let go gingerly, making sure it wouldn’t tilt again, before backing away and sitting unceremoniously on the ground, shoulders sagging. Gula fished a potion out of his pocket and held it out to Aced, who took it after only a moment’s hesitation.

“Well, I guess I’ll leave you guys to it. Good luck.” Luxu turned and began to wander in the direction of the exit, but Ava, who had been looking back and forth between the post and the ring, suddenly clapped her hands.

“Wait, Luxu!” she called. “Come back—this is perfect! We have enough people now!” She started delegating, pointing at each of them in turn. “Ira, you keep holding the post in place. Aced, I know you’re tired, but do you think I could sit on your shoulders?” 

“...Yeah, all right.” Aced pushed himself to his feet, downing the rest of the potion.

“Great! Invi, cast the gravity spell again, and Gula, can you climb to the top of the pillar like before?”

“Won’t it start swinging again?” 

“Not if Luxu helps Ira hold it steady!” Ava replied brightly. “Invi, make sure you keep the ring  _ and  _ the arm weightless!”

Luxu hesitated, but shrugged, and went to assist Ira. Aced helped Gula to the top of the post, making sure not to overbalance the other crosspieces, and then knelt down to let Ava clamber onto his shoulders. With another woosh, the arm and ring lifted into the air, and Ava grabbed them, guiding the arm towards the slot.

“Hey Gula,” Aced said, as they worked to lock it back in place, “maybe we should leave you up there. I think you’re doing a fine job holding it in place.”

“Hmm. Not a bad idea,” Gula replied. “Then I’d have an excuse to skip all of these extra training sessions you keep insisting on.”

To everyone’s surprise, Aced laughed. “Like you’ve ever had trouble coming up with one before.”

“Hah.” Gula smiled as the arm finally slotted into place. “Touche.” 

“Is that it?” Luxu asked, leaning back to get a better view. 

“We’ll see.” Gula hopped down and backed away. “Let it go.” 

Ira and Luxu released the post, quickly backing up until they were past the rings, and Aced placed Ava back on the ground again. The rings swung slightly, but the arms all remained motionless, balanced again. 

“What if it breaks again the next time we hit it?” Invi asked.

“We could test it!” Ava turned to Gula. “Gula, you wanna try it out?” 

“Oh, fine.” Gula summoned his keyblade and slammed against a ring. The crosspieces started spinning, each of them perfectly in place. 

Unseen, at the entrance to the training hall, the Master of Masters leaned against the door-frame and watched his students as they cheered and laughed, congratulating themselves. The sounds of their joy echoed around the hall, and he smiled to himself before turning on his heel and walking away. He knew that soon there would be no more laughter in this room, that there would be a day when their bonds would be stretched to their limits. 

But that day was far off, still. He could at least let them have fun for now.


End file.
